According to sources, hunt for APCC chief has begun with elections of the four presiding officers in the AP Assembly and Legislative Council are over. It seems that the Congress Central Leadership will appoint the Pradesh Congress Committee chief within the next few days and indications are there that it will be someone from Telangana.

It is said that the Andhra Pradesh Congress affairs in-charge, Mr Gulam Nabi Azad, will discuss the issue with the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, and will finalise the PCC candidate before he leaves on a foreign trip on June 7. It is also likely that along with the PCC chief, the higher education minister, Mr C. Damodar Raj Narasimha, will also be officially announced as the Deputy Chief Minister in the next few days.

Initially the Congress had been consideredering the names of senior ministers, Mr Kanna Laxminarayana and Mr Botsa Satyanarayana, for the post of PCC chief but there was a growing resentment among Telangana leaders. Some of them even issued statements criticising the party leadership's decision of "allotting only deputies' posts" to Telangana region and keeping the key posts for Seemandhra leaders.

According to sources, five names from Telangana region are in consideration for the PCC president post in AP. Foremost of them is, of course Ponnala Laxmaiah, whose name almost springs up everytime whenever PCC chief is being altered. Ponnala belongs to Munnuru Kapu community and as persons of this community have served as PCC presidents in the past, this time Ponnala may not be preferred, it is said.

With Mr Md. Jani declining the Legislative Council's deputy chairman's post, there is hardly any big post held by a Muslim in the state. Though the Congress has been taking credit for holding the minority vote bank, the same has not reflected in terms of posts. Thus the name of former minister Mr Shabbir Ali and Rajya Sabha member Mr M.A. Khan are also doing the rounds. Mr Shabbir has lost two successive elections and is considered very close to Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad and that is being seen as a minus point. Mr Khan, meanwhile is not a well-known face in the state though he has been in the Congress for decades and his closeness to Dr K.V. P. Ramachandra Rao is also being examined. The other names doing the rounds are former MP Mr Mallu Ravi and former minister Mr Sambhani Chandrasekhar, both of whom are SCs.